Spring Break….Relaxing and Creating!

I have been on Spring Break this week and have enjoyed every minute of it.  I have been reading professional books and blogs about Daily 5.  I think I am going to dive into that next year.  I tried to implement it a few years ago, but we were in the process of adopting the Common Core Standards, and I really was overwhelmed.  After teaching the CCSS for three years now, I feel much more prepared for implementing it in my classroom.  
I am still in the planning stages, but one TpT product that I know that will be perfect for the Work on Writing rotation is Joey Udovich's Interactive Writing Center.  I bought it earlier this year and have used it with my kids.  They LOVE it!  They can work independently and a writing of their choice.  So, I am SUPER excited that I already have that in place and ready to go for next year!  If you have not seen this product, I HIGHLY recommend that you check it out!  It's adorable and effective!  What more can you ask for?  If you want to read more about it, you can check out her blog post here.  

If you are a 3rd-5th grade teacher that implements Daily 5 in your classroom, I would love to know what works for you.  Do you have any great products, like Joey's, that you have purchased or created that work well with Daily 5? Have you read a valuable blog post that you think does a great job explaining Daily 5?  Please leave your comments, ideas, etc. for all of the intermediate teachers out there that are implementing or just thinking about implementing Daily 5 in the classroom.  I know we would all appreciate it!  ;)  

Okay, if you have stayed with me, I have a freebie that I have created to share with you, as well.  I have been looking for ways to motivate my students to read books other than fiction (mostly realistic fiction).  Although, realistic fiction is great, I want them to branch out and read different genres.  In order to promote reading across the genres, I created a "challenge" of sorts to motivate them.  I plan to start this once we return from the break.  

Here is how it works:  

1)   Print the bookmarks on cardstock and laminate them. Give students the bookmarks and a copy of the reading log for tracking reading. 

2)   As students read books from the different genres, they should record their books and the genres on the reading log.

3)   Once a student has read a book from each genre listed on the bookmark, he/she will give the reading log to you.  If you use Accelerated Reader or similar program, you can verify if the student took the AR tests over the books. 

4)   Reward your students with the included certificate, and you may want to offer a prize of some sort.  I will probably offer a homework pass, candy, and a little something else, as well.  Also, I have included a header for a bulletin board and little tags. The students can put their names on the tag for the bulletin board. So, my students can join the "Reading Across the Genres" Wall of Fame.  Kids love to see their names on the wall.  

5)   Repeat over and over!  The file offers all pages (with the exception of

the reading log) in both color and black and white for your printing convenience.  

If you would like to download this freebie, visit my TpT store.  

Let me know your thoughts on Daily 5 (which I think will be more like Daily 3 in my classroom) and I would love feedback on the freebie!  

Happy Thursday!